Aug Oct 2016 ISSUE 8 RailTel Celebrates its 17th Foundation Day RailTel marked its 17th foundation day with a whole day celebration on 23rd September 2016. The 1st half of the day was dedicated to a seminar on Bridging the Rural Disconnect and the evening was more of celebrating RailTel s success in the past year followed by a gala music concert. Hon ble MR inaugurating Fast Wi-Fi service at Chennai Railway Station Various Industry stakeholders including various Central & State Ministries, Telecom organizations, Service Providers, MNCs, Social organizations participated to explore alternate ideas to address the issue of Digital Divide between the Urban and Rural India Inside this issue Station Wi Fi Project... 3 Award for RailTel... 4 Vigilance and Integrity Pledge... 4 Diwali at RailTel... 4 Sports Day at SR... 5 Sports Day at ER... 5 HR Activities... 5 RailTel in number... 6 Traditional Lamp Lighting Ceremony As per tradition the programme started with lamp lighting followed by the keynote address by Shri R.K. Bahuguna, CMD, RailTel. In his address he gave a brief introduction about the subject of Rural Digital Divide and how it is Hon ble MoSR Addressing the Audience affecting the overall growth of country. He set the platform for discussion on how we need to act collectively to develop the digital infrastructure of the Rural area. Sh. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon ble Minister of Railways, addressed the audience through RailTel TPaaS. In his speech he praised RailTel s effort in realizing the Digital India mission. Fact Files RailTel started its operation from Room No. 151 at Railway Board which was also the first registered office of RailTel. The operations from 10th Floor, Bank of Baroda Building started in 2003 making it the second registered office. The present registered office of RailTel is 6th Floor, Delhi Technology Park, Shastri Park.
After the inaugural session the panel discussion on Collaborative methods to bridge the rural Digital Divide explored the possibility of adopting the methods of collaborative economies, platforms and micro entrepreneurs to drive down the cost of internet access in rural India. During the discussion Sh. A Seshagiri Rao, Director/NPM, RailTel highlighted Railwire as a successful model of providing broadband specially in rural and Teir-2/3 cities. The second panel discussion dealt with the topic of Wi-Fi as a platform for Digital Inclusion. The moderator of the panel discussion, Sh. Manohar Raja, GM/EB, RailTel, elaborated that Wi-Fi is acknowledged as a technology for creating more affordable internet access given that the devices are affordable and readily available and also there is no cost of spectrum. Seven out of eight Indians access the internet through mobiles and for most Indians the only experience of internet is the narrow band relatively expensive internet of GPRS/2G. The panelists also stated that the internet itself is morphing into a video network and the new internet is not experienced by majority of Indians. Public Wi-Fi can be leveraged to not only bridge the digital divide but also the emerging experience divide of Internet by providing public Wi-Fi spots in a sustainable manner. The panelist explored various methods of creating sustainable public Wi-Fi service in rural India. The evening programme started with lamp lighting followed by the welcome address by Shri R.K. Bahuguna, CMD, RailTel. In his address he said RailTel has been making steady profit for the past few year and have made a total income of Rs. 642 crores in the last financial year. He also spoke about the ongoing and new projects of RailTel like, station Wi Fi project, Railway Display Network (RDN) etc. In his address, the Chief Guest of the evening, Sh. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon ble Minister of Railways, congratulated RailTel for being the only profitable PSU in very competitive telecom sector, with a commendable growth profile. He announced that RailTel has commissioned High Speed Wi-Fi broadband services at 50 Stations till now in partnership with Google with 100 stations targeted by end of this year. He also praised RailTel s HD Video Conferencing service -TPaaS - which is being extensively used by Ministry of Railways and PMO for various events, saving cost and time. He suggested that RailTel should now take more proactive role in building telecom infrastructure for Railways. 2
Projects like Mobile Train Radio Communication, Train Management System, etc for execution in Indian Railways which shall help in improving the Train operations. He also said that RailTel s own capabilities in implementation of ERP can also help Railways in executing similar system within Railways. Under the Corporate Social Responsibility scheme, RailTel is running a training center in Dehradun - Akansha Super 30- which trains 30 underprivileged children for appearing in the engineering entrance examination. On the very first year of its being all 30 students of Akansha Super 30, Dehradun secured admission at premier institutions like IIT, NIT and other Govt. & premier engineering colleges of India. Total 4 students secured seats in IITs, 6 students secured seats in NITs and other 20 students secured seats in other State level & private engineering colleges. 3 students who secured seats in the IITs were facilitated in the event. The programme continued with the award ceremony felicitating the outstanding achievers (individual and team) of RailTel followed by a magnificent musical show by renowned singer Lucky Ali. RailTel s Fast Wi-Fi at Railway Stations During the period of August October 2016 Wi-Fi services at 40 stations were commissioned, taking total number of commissioned stations to 72. Hon ble Minister of Railways, Sh. Suresh P. Prabhu inaugurated RailTel Wi-Fi services at 8 Railway Stations of Mumbai suburban on 22.08.2016. Hon ble Minister of State for Railways (S), Sh. Manoj Sinha inaugurated the Wi-Fi service at Jhansi on 06.08.2016. On 16.08.2016, Hon ble Minister of State for HRD Sh. Mahindra Nath Pandey inaugurated the Wi -Fi service at Mughal Sarai Hon ble Minister of Railways, Sh. Railway Display Network Project Creating the Largest Display Network of the World RailTel has conceptualized RDN which shall provide over 1 lac screens across 2000 railway stations connected through RailTel s data network and managed centrally from RailTel s data center. It shall provide an opportunity to provide real time train and passenger information, showcase important Govt. messages/ schemes, tourist information, etc. for the benefit of passengers/visitors at stations. It will also enable advertising revenue potential for Railways thereby ensuring increased non-fare revenues. Presently pilot is being implemented at 20 stations out of which 5 important stations are Delhi, Jaipur, Gwalior, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Suresh P. Prabhu inaugurated Wi -Fi service at Thrissur Railway 26.09.2016 Hon ble Minister of Railways, Sh. Suresh P. Prabhu inaugurated the Wi-Fi service at Jabalpur on 18.10.2016. Hon ble MP, Sh. Shashi Tharoor inaugurated the WiFi service at Thiruvananthapuram Central on 10.2016. 3
PSU Shining Award 2016 for RailTel At News Ink PSU Shining Awards 2016, RailTel was awarded as Legend PSU of the Year and Sh. Arun K. Jain, CVO/ RailTel was awarded as Legend Personality of the Year for maintaining Operational Transparency. Heartiest Congratulations. RailTel takes Vigilance & Integrity Pledge On the occasion of marking the beginning of Vigilance Awareness Week and National Integrity week CMD RailTel administered Vigilance pledge and Integrity pledge to RailTel staff on 31st October. RailTel staff from all over India was connected through RailTel Telepresence Service to its Corporate Office at Gurgaon for the pledges. RailTel Celebrates Diwali RailTel family celebrated Diwali together. Rangoli competition marked the beginning of the celebration at the Corporate office of RailTel. 28 RailTel officials participated in the competition and brought out the colorful charm of the festival with their artistic skills. Rangolis with different social messages like Beti Bachao Beti Padao, Jai Jawan, Go Green were also presented beautifully. 4
Sports Day at RailTel Southern Region HR Activities Southern Region conducted sports day on 22nd Oct at IRISET sports complex.. The event saw participation of more than 110 employees from Territory offices of Secunderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ernakulam and RO. Chess, Badminton( Singles and doubles), Carom (singles and doubles), Table Tennis, Cricket match (between 4 teams) competitions were organized. Trophies and certificates were given to winners and runners in the evening.. 10 executives joined at various posts on contract basis for ESIC project. 9 executives joined on contract basis for HARTRON project. 4 General Managers joined on deputation. 1 General Manager(OSS/ BSS) was recruited 60 executives promoted from E1 to E2 level. 7 executives confirmed in RailTel s service (3-Dy. Managers, 1 Asstt. GM, 3 Sr. Managers) Sports Day at RailTel Eastern Region Employees of RailTel Western Region Mumbai, performing yoga Eastern Region conducted sports day on 22nd Oct at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Complex, Salt Lake, Kolkata.. The event saw participation of more than 90 employees from the regional and as well as territory offices. Various competition like Running, Shot put, Javelin Throw, Relay race etc. A football match was also organized.. 5
RailTel in Numbers New Business Highlights RailTel has been entrusted with the implementation of surveillance system across approx. 1000 railway stations under the Nirbhaya Fund. RailTel received a major order from BSNL for providing STM-64 & STM-16 connectivity at 16 locations in eastern India. In view of the expanding network of RailTel in North East India, Telcos are now placing major orders for connectivity in NE areas. RailTel received a major order from Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure) for TPaaS. Item Status as on 31st Oct 2016 Total Income (% change over last year period) RailTel OFC Laid Lit USOF progress OFC laid Duct laid Rs. 408.50 Cr provisional (24%) 47473 RKMs 44407 RKMs. 3607 KMs 5313 KMs RailWire customer base crossed the 1 lakh mark During the period RailTel added 42 new customers in enterprise segment across various regions NOFN progress OFC laid Duct laid RailWire Subscribers LCOs 9172 KMs 12202 KMs 1,06,000 + 2400+ RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. Plot no. 143, Institutional Area, Sector-44, Opp. Gold Souk Mall Gurgaon 122003 Phone: 0124-2714000 Fax: 0124-4236084 Published by: PR Department, RailTel 6